From This Day Forward
by Adverb Slut
Summary: It's finally the day for Ichigo and Orihime to get married. Their well-meaning friends from the Soul Society and all the way to Hueco Mundo rush to prepare their gifts for the couple minutes before the vows are said at ten o' clock; the gifts range from thoughtful, like Tsukishima's photo album to downright useless (fireworks from Ganju and Kūkaku) and everything in between.
1. 9:00 AM

**AUTHOR'S NOTE  
**

This story will have short chapters, each one (save for the first and last ones), representing one minute until ten o' clock in the morning when Ichigo and Orihime's wedding ceremony will commence.

Please note that because Ichigo and Orihime live in Japan, and they obviously would have a more Japanese-like wedding. Since I am not very familiar with how weddings are done in Japan, I'm going to base their wedding on what I know best. :)

 **Disclaimer: I don't own _Bleach_.**

* * *

 **9:00 A.M.**

* * *

Today was the day.

Today was the day that Orihime Inoue's dreams were going to come true; the day when all the months of planning she had put in would finally come to fruition. The day when she would finally shake away years of loneliness and sadness.

She reached out and touched the glass of the window, sighing loudly. Her wide eyes scanned the bright green scenery and the enormous parking lot where several cars were parked. If one considered the number of guests they were entertaining, one would think that the number of cars would be too few—and that would be the case had not most of the guests traveled by Senkaimon from the Soul Society or Gargantas from Hueco Mundo.

"Orihime, are you coming or what?" Rangiku called. Her hand was poised on several makeup brushes stacked on a small golden vanity. "We don't want to be late to the ceremony!"

"Oh!" Orihime forced herself to move away from the window and scurried to where Rangiku stood. "Coming, coming! I'm sorry, I was just daydreaming!" She flinched slightly when Rukia placed a hairbrush on her head.

"Why daydream when this day is going to be a 'real-life dream', anyway?" she asked, a reassuring grin forming on her face. "I mean, you're marrying the man you've always loved, no?"

This time it was Orihime's face to break out in a smile. "Of course! I guess . . . I just can't believe it's real."

Before anyone could say anything in response, Tatsuki burst through the door, carrying a large bag with a dress-rental company's logo emblazoned on it. She breathed heavily as if she'd just run several miles. "It's—it's here. I've got it."

Orihime leaped from her seat and ran toward her friend. "Oh my God! Tatsuki, did you run here?"

"Sprinted's more like it. You guys did not tell me how far the dress store was." The black-haired girl squinted angrily at Rangiku and Rukia, who whistled innocently and looked as if they'd rather be anywhere else. "Anyway, come on, Orihime. Let's get you into your wedding dress."

It was all Orihime could do not to squeal in excitement, as Rukia helped Tatsuki carefully pull out the gown. Rangiku had helped her pick it out a few months back, although the busty woman had originally opted that the strapless sweetheart neckline _be_ much, much lower. Even still, after much bargaining, it was lower than Orihime would have preferred, but Rangiku had insisted that her dress help to show off her _assets_.

"Silk," Rukia noted, drawing a hand down the length of the dress. She nodded appreciatively. "This is really nice."

" _Well_ ," a voice came from the doorway. " _It would look much better with a cute headband_!" Riruka ran in, out of breath, her face blazing red in fury. With one hand, she held a rhinestone-gilded hairpiece, and with the other, she pointed an accusing finger at Tatsuki. "You left me behind at the dress store!"

Rukia looked at the former X-Cution member, deadpan. "Your Bringer Light was slower than a regular human on foot?"

"Yeah," Tatsuki shrugged. "I thought you'd catch up. Sorry."

"I—er—argh—I—" Riruka stuttered. She looked flustered. "I forgot to use Bringer Light." She sunk to the ground in despair and held the hairband out to Orihime, who accepted with a beam.

"Enough chit-chat, girls," Rangiku ordered. "We've got to be at the wedding hall in an hour and Orihime's not even done with her makeup or hair yet!"

Tatsuki nodded in determination. "Yeah, we gotta make sure Ichigo's knocked off of his feet when he sees her at the altar!"


	2. 9:05 AM

**9:05 A.M.**

* * *

"Come on, Karin," Yuzu cried. She hurried out of the passenger seat of the car, toting several large bags. "We're going to be late! Orihime said that all the bridesmaids should be there at nine in the morning, and we're already five minutes behind!"

"Don't blame me," Karin grumbled, as she exited the car. "It was all the old goat's fault. If he hadn't lost his gift, we wouldn't have to help him find it."

Although she didn't exactly want to blame their tardiness on their father, Yuzu had to agree. "Yeah, what even was his gift, anyway?"

Karin shrugged. "Beat's me. He wouldn't let me look, but I bet it's going to be something stupid."

"Oh, yeah! I was going to ask, Karin, what present are you giving to Ichigo for a wedding gift?"

"Eh, I went with something simple. I just bought a bunch of gift cards and shoved them into a bag."

Yuzu pouted. "Aw, that's no fun! Wedding gifts should be heartfelt! I bought Ichigo and Orihime a new tablecloth!"

Karin rolled her eyes. That was such a 'Yuzu gift'.


	3. 9:06 AM

**9:06 A.M.**

* * *

Ganju Shiba stared at Hanatarō. The short Shinigami quaked under his glare. "What did I tell you? The silver candles go on every third table, while the white ones go on every other one!"

"No—no, Ganju, I'm sure you said, 'The white candles go on every third table, while the silver ones go one every other one,'" Hanatarō stuttered.

The pair looked around the reception hall, where they had decorated everything almost perfectly. Except for the tables.

Ganju decided to take pity on his small friend. "Look, it's not that I care about how the tables look, but my sister's gonna kill us if her design scheme looks all messed up."

"Your sister?!" Hanatarō yelped. He leaped behind Ganju like a scared rabbit. "Is she here?"

"Not yet. She'll be coming later. I just came early so I could drop off our presents and the designs for the reception hall, and somehow I got roped into decorating with you."

"I see." Hanatarō began to rearrange the candles. "What did you guys bring Ichigo and Orihime?"

Ganju snorted. "Whaddaya think—fancy jewelry?" He paused. "We bought them Shiba family fireworks!"

Hanatarō paled. _What kind of gift is that_? _I don't know if Ichigo even likes fireworks_. "Oh, uh, that's a great gift. I bought them these really cool slushy drink things I got from a gas station store I worked at!"

Ganju sweatdropped. "What kind of gift is that?"


	4. 9:07 AM

**9:07 A.M.**

* * *

"You brought a photo album, Tsukishima?" Ginjō asked. He raised an eyebrow. "Coming from you, that's a strange wedding present."

Tsukishima, Ginjō and Yukio were already seated in their assigned wedding seats. They had arrived to the ceremony much earlier than most of the guests, but that was attributed to their close proximity to the wedding venue, which was in Karakura Town.

"It's not that strange," Tsukishima protested. He opened the silver album on his lap. "Now they will have a place to store all their memories."

Ginjō rolled his eyes. _Whatever you say_.

"And besides," continued Tsukishima. "At least my gift has some use. I'm not sure how Ichigo and Orihime will use _your_ gift."

The former Substitute Shinigami fished a _second_ necklace from underneath his shirt and held it up. It read A Dirge of Death . "What do you mean? Fancy jewelry is a perfect gift."

Yukio, who had been focused on filling in some orders for his company on his phone, piped up. "That's not _even_ fancy."

Ginjō turned toward the younger man with a scowl. "Okay, then what would _you_ describe as fancy?"

Yukio put away his phone, rolled his eyes, and fished out a glittering pair of couture slippers from his new designer shoe line out of a gift bag. The slippers had so many rhinestones and sparkles that they reflected little rainbows as the wedding venue chandelier lights hit them. "This. My wedding gift."

"Holy hell," Ginjō breathed, his mouth dropping open, "that _is_ fancy."


	5. 9:08 AM

**9:08 A.M.**

* * *

"Wait up, Nel!" Pesche yelled as he and Dondochakka trailed behind their master. He dropped down to the ground, sweat pouring off his back and other places that he would _rather_ not mention.

Next to him, Dondochakka breathed heavily. "Hiking from here to Hueco Mundo sure was hard work."

"Yeah," agreed Pesche. "I bet if we had traveled by Senkaimon, it would have been a lot faster."

In reality, the entire ordeal of opening a Garganta and walking fourteen feet to the wedding venue had taken them little strength and a total of forty-two seconds, but keeping up with Nel, who had scrambled around in a frenzy when she realized that she was supposed to bring a wedding gift, had drained all their strength.

Noticing that her Fracciones were no longer behind her, Nel, in her adult-form now, flash-stepped to where they were sprawled on the ground. She waved her arms around in a frenzy. "Come on, you two! If we don't find a gift, quick, I'm going to have to give Ichigo and Orihime _this_!" She held out her makeshift-gift.

Pesche looked at his fellow Fracción with an incredulous look when he saw what Nel was holding. "But, Nel . . that's Nnoitra's old Santa Teresa."

Shaking the weapon haphazardly, she wailed, "Exactly!"

"Where'd you get it from, Nel?" Dondochakka asked.

"Not important," she replied, all mysterious-like. Something caught her eye for a second, and she flash-stepped in the direction. Her Fracciones were left in confusion for a moment before she returned with a grin. In her hand, she held a green, leafy, sphere.

Peshe couldn't believe his eyes. It was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. _If_ he had been some kind of _anime_ character, his eyes would have totally turned into hearts. "Nel . . . what _is_ that?"

Nel beamed. "I have no idea, but isn't it pretty?"

"Ooh, ooh!" Dondochakka offered, raising his hand eagerly. "I know what it is! I know what it is! I've seen one before! Pick me! It's called a cabbage!"

" _A cabbage_ ," Nel and Pesche chorused wistfully.

"Ichigo and Orihime will love it!" Nel said suddenly. She held the cabbage to her chest and raced off toward the venue, leaving a cloud of dust behind her.

" _And_ she's _still_ carrying Santa Teresa," Pesche mumbled as he and Dondochakka ambled slowly behind her.

* * *

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE**

Hope you guys enjoyed these! There will be more to come, for sure, considering I'm planning to write enough chapters until we reach "10:00 A.M." Please review and/or follow/favorite—I'd really appreaciate it!

(If you couldn't tell I lowkey have a soft spot for Nelnoi XD)

I have a quick question for you all: what other characters would you like to see in this ficlets? I have a lot of them planned, but I'd like to see your guys' suggestions, too! (Please no Quincies, though. I forgot most of what happened in that arc and never really cared for any of them besides Bazz-B and Haschwalth.) I can't promise all of them will end up in this story, but I'll try to use your suggestions!

Have a great day!


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